


Sonic Rewritten: Sonic Adventure

by HeartOfDarkness1138



Series: Modern Sonic Rewritten [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Gen, Mild Language, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21604606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartOfDarkness1138/pseuds/HeartOfDarkness1138
Summary: Sonic games are notorious for their bad writing and mediocre/nonsensical plots. This is a rewrite intended to be more compelling and better quality than the stories of the games themselves (though it's up to you to judge which is truly better). Rated T only for language and dark themes later on.
Series: Modern Sonic Rewritten [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557178
Kudos: 8





	1. Chaos Unleashed

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a passion project of mine that I've had in my mind for a while, so I really hope others enjoy it. I plan on updating it fairly regularly, though I don't actually have a set schedule. Anyway, for this chapter, you'll notice that the story of the game is in chronological order. I planned on using more of the original script but it's really not good when you go back and look at it, so I altered the words, but the characters are essentially saying the same things they're saying in the game. Also, if you haven't already, please check out my Classic Sonic timeline. Just like this game, I rewrote the classic games, except just as summaries instead of full-on fics (though those will come later). It isn't essential to read that first, but it would help as I will be referencing it a bit. Anyway, again, hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knuckles, Big, and Sonic all have a run-in with a brand new threat in an all new modern adventure

Chapter 1: Chaos Unleashed

\-- Angel Island, several months after the dimensional warp --

Knuckles sighed deeply as he sat on the steps of the master emerald’s altar. The night was dark and stormy without a single other being in sight. Life here was lonely. Sure there was plenty of life on the floating island, but the altar was a taboo place, no animals dared go there in fear that Knuckles would harm them. The fear wasn't completely unprompted, the guardian had a habit of resorting to violent methods if he so much as suspected someone of stealing the emerald. It led to many a lonesome night, and if he was being completely honest with himself… he didn't believe it was entirely worth it.

“As far back as I can remember, I've always been living here on this dark island…” Knuckles began to muse aloud to himself, a common occurrence when one lived alone so long. “I’ve always been guarding the Master Emerald from anything that can harm it. I don't know why I was given this job. Why was my fate? Am I destined to be here forever?”

As the echidna spoke, he slowly began to drift off into slumber. Normally he limited his sleep, not wanting to let his guard down, but tonight his body refused to stay up. Unfortunately though, this was the one time he should have kept himself up, as a threat loomed in the skies above.

\-- Aboard Robotnik’s ship --

Doctor Ivo Robotnik had his flying fortress hover just a few miles above Angel Island. A deep, guttural laugh sounded throughout the captain’s station as he looked over a paper one last time. “For the third time, just to be certain…” He adjusted his glasses as he skimmed. “The translated ancient echidan texts say that the god of destruction was sealed within the master emerald, so to unleash it, I should merely have to shatter the gem.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I still cannot believe that I had a being of ultimate power at my fingertips all that time ago. If only I had known… Oh well, better late than never I suppose.” 

The evil scientist pressed a button on his control pad which caused one of the ship’s guns to aim at the emerald. With another button press, a small, concentrated laser fired at the master emerald, completely shattering it. 

Robotnik grinned devilishly and laughed once more. “Thank heavens the red idiot is so bad at his job. Or rather- thank Chaos for it.” He watched down to see what havok the god would cause first.

Knuckles awoke with a jump as he heard the sound of shattering behind him. His heart sank when he thought of what could have happened. As he turned around, he immediately noticed the broken master emerald, completely ignoring the monster in front of him until a few moments later.

“What- Did you do this?!” The fighter growled as his rage grew. “Oh you're paying for that!!” Knuckles reeled back before punching with his full force. He wasn't fast enough though unfortunately, the creature leaping upward to avoid the hit. It came down hard, bashing the guardian with enlarged fists.

Knuckles went flying backward down the steep steps of the altar. The blow may have incapacitated one of the other heroes, but Knuckles didn't go down easily. He ran back up the stairs, even more furious. “That was a cheap shot!!!” The sore loser cried. 

As he charged another punch though, the strange creature appeared to dissolve, its physical form morphing into merely a puddle.

“What the hell… What are you?!” as Knuckles provoked the being, it began to flee, the water moving unnaturally on its own. “Hey, wait, get back here!” As he was about to chase the creature, the ground below him shook intensely, distracting the echidna long enough for the monster to escape.

“Oh crap it’s happening!” Without the master emerald’s powerful magic, the floating island was no longer able to keep itself in the sky. Knuckles gripped one of the altar’s pillars to steady himself as the land plummeted, landing in the ocean below, just next to the Mystic Ruins.

\-- Middle of the Mystic Ruins, minutes before Angel Island fell --

Big the Cat snored loudly in his small hut within the forest area of the Mystic Ruins. Next to him was his fishing rod which never left his side. In one hand, he clutched his best friend Froggy. The tiny frog was rather ordinary, wasn’t even able to talk, but to the cat he was better than any anthropomorphic animal in the world. In Big’s other hand was a bright, yellow chaos emerald. His “lucky charm” that he had found a few months back, just around the same time that weird island appeared in the sky. He had no idea how it worked, but having it on him seemed to make him better at everything for some reason, so he took to carrying it around at all times.

A loud crash sounded in the distance, causing Froggy to wake. As the amphibian looked around for the source, his eyes caught on a small puddle that slid by entirely on its own a few feet from the small building. The frog hopped down the steps onto the dirt road in order to get a closer look. The puddle, which had been slinking along slowly, stopped short. It shifted a bit before completely changing form, its entire being morphing into a slender appendage before attempting to strike the frog.

Froggy was a being of limited mental capacity, but any good frog knew exactly how to jump to avoid unwanted contact. Unfortunately, living puddles weren’t exactly a typical thing that one needed to dodge. The water shifted mid attack to chase the animal in the air. Froggy was able to dodge a majority of the attack, but a bit of the water ended up in his mouth, which he instinctively swallowed.

The puddle was unsure of itself at this point. It was still groggy from having just woken. Temporarily defeated, or just unwanting to fight any longer, the water crawled along in another direction, heading toward the nearby city…

Meanwhile, Froggy was having a less than pleasant reaction to ingesting the godly liquid. It was painless fortunately, but he was definitely altered. Most notably, the full-grown frog now had a tadpole-esque tail. The rest of the changes though weren’t exactly physical.

By this point, the cat slumbering nearby began to wake. Earthquakes and monster attacks had little effect on his state of sleep, but when he noticed that his best friend was no longer in his grasp, he ended up waking. “Ngh… Froggy? Where’d you go?” He wiped his heavy eyes before setting down his gem and hopping off of his bed to look for the other. 

It obviously didn’t take long for Big to realize that his friend was at the bottom of the stairs. He squinted, trying to make sense of what he saw. “You're lookin' kinda weird, good buddy… What’s up with the tail?” He waited, as if expecting an answer from the frog. Instead of speaking though, Froggy leapt past Big onto their bed, eating the chaos emerald.

Big frowned, not understanding what was going on. “Froggy wait, that's my lucky charm you're eating!!” In response, the corrupted amphibian hopped off, beginning to make his way out of the forest. “Come back here... What's wrong with you? Something's not right. We've always been Friends... for years.” With a frown of determination, Big grabbed his fishing pole and chased after his best friend. “Hold on Froggy! Whatever’s wrong with you I’m gonna help you!!!” He shouted before heading into the city.

\-- Station Square, an hour after Angel Island’s crash --

It was a calm night in Central City. The rain hadn’t gone much further than the Mystic Ruins, instead the city just had a pleasant chill in the air, perfect for an evening walk, which several residents found themselves participating in. No matter the time of day, if any civilian stared at one place for long enough, it wasn’t rare to spot a blue blur going by. Ever since a certain blue hedgehog moved into the city a few months back, not a single inch of the place was safe from that streak of blue. 

Super powered animals weren’t unheard of on earth. Rare, but far from out of the ordinary. Hell, in Station Square alone, a small area of the city, a flying bunny and a super strong cat had been visiting for years. Not to mention the pink hedgehog that moved in recently, as well as the fox that had started coming around at about the same time. 

Sonic though, he was a different case. Flight and strength were one thing. Super speed though, many citizens were awed by. Not many knew the animal by name, but that signature blur had become legendary within the city. Despite the fact that nobody knew of his accomplishments in his home world, the hedgehog had become a bit of a local celebrity due to image alone. And it absolutely went to his head. But that pride won’t be relevant until a little later on.

Sonic loved nights like this. The cool breeze, the gentle city lights, the quiet nightlife… What better time than this for a good rooftop run? He ran from building to building, sprinting between store roofs and along the sides of apartment complexes, his momentum barely keeping him in place, only a few miles per hour keeping him from hitting the ground. He loved this rush. Back home he could still run freely, but he learned a little while ago that big cities were far better for running than fields. Afterall, what fun could you have in an open space? An enormous obstacle course was way more exciting.

The hedgehog perched atop a tall building, taking a short break to breath in the night air. “Ah yeah, this is happenin’!” He announced to nobody in particular. Knuckles wasn’t the only one who had a habit of musing out loud.

As Sonic prepared to continue on his run, his ear twitched, interrupting him. It took him a moment to identify the sound he heard in the distance, eventually realizing it was sirens roaring miles away, and getting closer.He rolled his eyes with a pout. “Ugh, cops again… They should know by now that I’m not going to pay any speeding tickets.” As he readied himself for a high speed chase though, he saw a fleet of police cars pass by him completely. “Okay…? Never mind…” He couldn’t help but feel just a little guilty for being letdown that he wouldn’t be getting chased tonight. Disappointment soon turned to confusion though as two helicopters flew by shortly after. “What the…? Now this I gotta see for myself.”

The superpowered hedgehog lept to the ground, completely unharmed despite the height. With legs as powerful as his, it took a lot more than a fall to damage them. He sped off in the direction the police went, winding up there in seconds, getting there just in time to hear an officer begin yelling.

“You are completely surrounded! Surrender yourself or we will be forced to open fire!” Seven officers stood in a semi-circle at the end of a street, all carrying handguns. Sonic was lurking behind the line, the sight making him gag. Two of his least favourite things were authority figures and guns. Suddenly he found himself missing his weapon-free home…

Lost in thought, Sonic nearly didn’t notice the criminal that had brought everyone here. At the end of the street, surrounded by buildings, stood a translucent, blue creature. It looked almost like it was made of liquid, evidenced moreso by the fact that its body was constantly dripping. In response to the yelled commands, the being turned to face the speaker. It walked slowly and unstably, its entire form constantly shifting and wobbling as if it was struggling to maintain a physical presence. As it crept on, without warning, a cop panicked and started shooting, causing all the others to open fire as well. As the bullets entered the creature’s body, they stopped short, falling out and onto the ground, not impeding its advance in the slightest.

One by one the policemen retreated, terrified of the abomination in front of them. All but one. Struck with disbelief, he just kept shooting as he backed up slowly. “This… This isn’t possible…” His gun clicked as it ran of ammo. By that point it was almost upon him, reaching an arm out toward the man, staring with unblinking eyes.

“Hey! H2-Ugly! If it’s fun you’re looking for, you're going after the wrong boy in blue. Why don’t you come play with the only one here who doesn’t have a stick up his ass, huh?” Sonic stood on top of one of the police cars, a cocky grin on his face as he shouted. The creature left the man, who ended up running away, now staring at the hedgehog instead. Sonic squinted with a frown when the other got closer. “Huh… Okay full disclosure, that ‘ugly’ crack was just an attention-grabber, but wow, you really are a disgusting little thing, aren’t you?”

The gloves were off. The monster threw a punch unexpectedly, its arm extending to an unnatural length in order to reach Sonic from several feet away. “Holy-” Sonic just barely managed to dodge at the last moment, jumping behind the other. “Jeez! Ever heard of a warning shot?!” Despite the angry words, the teen was enjoying this far more than he was letting on. This was way better than a car chase.

The thing turned again. This time though, it didn’t stop. It kept turning around and around, extending both arms out as it whirlwinded toward its foe. Sonic walked backward at the same speed, staying at a constant couple of centimeters away from the attack. “Spinning huh? Really? You know how many buzzsaws I’ve avoided in my life? The long arms were fun, but this is just boring. ‘Sides, spinning is my shtick. Wanna see a pro’s technique?” He leapt up, curling into a ball as he left the ground before dashing forward in mid-air. His form didn’t exactly abide by the laws of gravity, but the last thing Sonic liked to think about was physics.

Likely by dumb luck (despite Sonic believing it was pure skill), the attack managed to hit the one solid part of the creature’s body, a small brain at the top of its head. Once its weakpoint was hit, the being collapsed, its form breaking down completely until it was only a puddle. Weakened, it crawled off away from Sonic, ending up flowing down a sewer drain. “Awww, come on you big drip! Where ya goin’? The game was just starting to get good!” He snickered as he stood over the drain.

On a nearby rooftop, Doctor Robotnik stared down at his rival below, grinning. “You know nothing, fool! You think that was fun? It's Chaos! The God of Destruction! We’ll see how much fun you’re having after it gets its hands on a couple of chaos emeralds…” He let out a hearty laugh, still watching the hedgehog, up until the teen eventually fled the scene. “I won’t rest until your blood is on my hands, hedgehog…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it to the end of this, so I'm really hoping that's because you liked it enough to finish the chapter. Feel free to leave criticism in the comments, I want this to be enjoyable for everyone, so let me know how I can improve.


	2. Robotnik’s Grand Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robotnik is back, and he's built a brand new line of robots, though one of them is on its way to gaining free will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you're here for chapter 2! I'm flattered. I hope this chapter is good as well. You'll notice it's shorter than the last. Similarly, chapter 3 will be much longer. I've decided to separate chapters by where it makes sense plot-wise, not length-wise. As such, chapter length as well as time between chapters will be inconsistent, but I hope that's not a deal-breaker. Hope you still enjoy!

Chapter 2: Robotnik’s Grand Return

“...lo? Hello? Can you hear me?” The first thing the robot heard was the sound of its master’s voice. It was confused. Where was it? Why couldn’t it remember anything…

The robot lifted its head and looked around to survey its surroundings. “Aha! You’re awake! Systems look to be running at full power…” It hardly listened to the man in front of it, trying instead to make sense of things. Wherever this was, it was ugly. And the only notable things around were two robotic hedgehogs in tanks. Scary… They looked like things that would be built by-

“What are you looking around for?! Eyes on me, your brilliant creator Doctor Robotnik!” The robot looked down to see a sinister-looking man with a large grin on his face. For some odd reason, the man filled the machine with instinctive dread. And the name sounded familiar… It must be because he was its creator. That was it, yeah.

“You're the second of my E-100 model machines. E-102! Code name: Gamma.” The man explained with vigor.

“Gamma.” The robot repeated. Was that really its name? That didn’t feel familiar at all… But what its master says, goes, it supposed.

The Doctor walked off, beckoning for his creation to follow. Gamma took a second to get used to its legs. They were long and janky, but it figured it just wasn’t used to them since it was just born. It did as requested, following the man and getting used to walking.

“The shooting range is in here.” Robotnik mentioned, gesturing to a door next to him. “Your brother E-101 Beta is there practicing. You’re not quite as advanced as him, you’re missing one or two of his weapons, but you should do fine.”

‘Him’? Robots were male then. Noted. Gamma entered the door that he was instructed to. Inside were dolls, yellow and red, vaguely resembling animals. His creator said ‘shooting range’, right? What was he supposed to shoot with?

Looking down at his hands, he noticed finally that one of his limbs had a gun attached. Putting two and two together, he aimed his weapon at one of the dolls, there were three on the first room. A natural instinct kicked in, and without even thinking about it, Gamma shot three times, instantly destroying the dummies. Guilt coursed through him as his bullets tore the fabric to shreds, but something drove him to keep going. He walked through a corridor with occasional twists and turns, shooting all of the dummies that were constantly popping up. Finally at the end, there was a blue doll that moved around on a machine. Gamma locked onto it and shot it several times, managing to destroy it despite the movement.

Once finished with all of the targets, Gamma exited the shooting range. He had expected his creator to greet him upon his exit, but the doctor wasn’t around immediately. What now? He wasn’t given further instruction, what was he expected to do? Something finally clicked in his head. His vision was suddenly obscured when an automatic message appeared in his field of view. “No current objective. Seek out Doctor Robotnik for further commands.” Well that was useful…

Unsure of himself, Gamma resolved to search for the doctor. First logical place, down a nearby staircase onto a lower level of the building. Sure enough, there he was. A lot of effort for what should have been a quick search. Why wasn’t brain logic working? Wait no why-

As Gamma’s mind worked itself, there was a sudden internal jolt. What was he just thinking about…? Oh right. His glorious creator.

“Doctor Robotnik, I am finished with-”

“Ah, Gamma, about time! I didn’t honestly think you had what it takes. Maybe you aren’t so inferior afterall.” Robotnik paced around the large, empty room, signature grin on his face. “Alright Gamma, I have a test for you. Your brothers Epsilon, Delta, and Zeta are already part of my ship’s crew. I only have room for four elite robots, I’m low on resources so I need to make a few sacrifices. You and Beta are both powerful, but one has to go. You and him are going to fight each other. The winner is part of my crew, the loser, to put it as nicely as I can, will be torn apart and reduced to scrap metal. Sound good? Good. Beta!”

Too many thoughts were running through Gamma’s head. A fight to the death? He didn’t think he could kill anyone, even if it was just a robot… Another mental zap. Ridiculous, he was born as a killing machine, what was he thinking? Of course he could destroy his competition.

Behind Gamma, another robot entered the room, looking exactly like him except painted black and with larger guns on his hands. Huh, so that’s what they looked like. Why did seeing a robot make him so uncomfortable? Shouldn’t he feel at home around his brother?

“I won’t lie, if I were to put money on it, all my bets would be on Beta. But a fight will be far more fun to watch!” Robotnik ascended the stairs again, moving to a spot safe from the two destructive robots. “Now, begin!”

Beta attacked first without hesitation. He aimed his twin arm cannons toward Gamma, firing off a barrage of missiles in the other’s direction.

The red robot attempted to dodge, but one of the projectiles clipped his side. He braced himself, expecting pain, but realizing afterward that he was a lot more durable than he thought. Since he wasn’t able to get out of this any other way, he aimed his own blaster at Beta, firing a precise blast at the other’s head. His opponent was damaged, but not out of the fight. 

Beta lifted off of the floor, Gamma only just now realizing the jet propulsor floating behind his brother. Another wave of missiles fired, threatening to destroy the crimson mech. Desperate to escape, Gamma’s robotic instincts kicked in once again and his body shited, legs folding and replacing feet with wheels, allowing him to drive himself out of harm’s way. 

Beta was slow to turn around, giving Gamma just enough time to aim another shot, this time hitting the jet booster. The black robot prepared to fire again, just as the jet malfunctioned from the shot, tipping him face down and sending him to the floor, setting off a missile at close range and accidentally blowing off half of his own body.

Above the arena, a loud laugh sounded. “Well done Gamma! You’ve certainly surprised me!” The doctor descended again, paying no attention to Beta’s remains, merely stepping over them to get to the winner. “I have a feeling there’s more to you than meets the eye!” He said with a sinister, unnerving grin.

Behind Robotnik, Beta’s still working arm attempted to grip at his shoe. “And just what do you want, you failure?!” He snapped, having no tolerance for disappointment. The badnik stared up at him though with pleading eyes. “Ugh, fine… If you can drag what’s left of your pathetic body all the way to my ship, I’ll  _ consider  _ repairing you.” As he looked over the mess of parts, the doctor spied a prize. He picked up the jet booster, still in decent condition, and showed it off to Gamma. “Aha! Maybe your brother isn’t good for nothing after all. I’ll fix this thing up, give it a new paint job, then it’s all yours.” He patted his creation on the shoulder with a smile. “Now, onto my flying fortress! We have much work to do!”

Gamma followed right behind his creator, looking back briefly to see the top half of his brother crawl forward slowly with his gun arms. He wanted so desperately to help the poor thing out, but if that’s how Robotnik treated  _ loyal  _ robots, there was no way he was about to defy orders. The trio walked (and crawled) silently from the base to the airship, giving Gamma time to think about his life. He had a feeling that things were only going to get bumpier from here…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the perspective is a little weird. I experimented with a mix of a 3rd and 1st person POV. My friend who's proofreading these says it's good, but that's just them, I'm eager to see other opinions on it, so let me know what you think!


	3. Beach Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic spends a day at the beach. Anyone who knows this character knows about how well this will turn out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, time for some ensuing hijinx. By the way, this chapter won't showcase it, but within my canon, almost everyone can swim, it's literally just Sonic that sinks, so keep that in mind as you read. Even Amy swims, it's not a hedgehog thing, it's just a Sonic thing.

Chapter 3: Beach Day!

\-- The skies above Station Square --

High above the city’s skyline, a chrome silver biplane flew through the clouds. Miles Prower was taking the plane on a test drive after having recently built it from scratch. Normally he just went around in Sonic’s plane, but there were only so many speed improvements he could add to the old thing. Building a new one was far more practical. Plus, now he and Sonic could race in the air! Miles loved racing his best friend, but it was impossible to beat the guy on foot, this would be a lot more fair.

“Everything seems to be alright so far… systems are stable, flight is steady… The test looks like it’s gonna be a success!” The plan was just a few laps around the city, then right back to the workshop. The plane rumbling was not part of the plan.

“Uh-oh… What’s wrong with this thing?” The fox scanned over meters and dials, trying to figure out what was causing the plane to malfunction. It was really difficult with the vehicle shaking violently though. 

“Altitude… Dropping…” He observed with a shaky voice, his stomach turning as the plane began to spin. Smoke poured out of the engine. There was definitely no way the plane was going back up. All the child could do was find a relatively soft spot to crash.

\-- Station Square hotel pool --

Sonic was resting his eyes on a poolside chair. Pools had always been an odd concept to him. Who in their right mind would voluntarily enter water?? But whatever. It was a nice day, the sun was out, the people weren’t wearing much, and the hotel’s beach chairs were really comfy. Thankfully, in the summertime the hotel doubled as a public pool. Sonic wondered how he ever lived in the wild for so long, this place really was paradise. 

Reveling in his life situation, the hedgehog began to doze, closing his eyes and laying back in his chair. As he drifted to sleep, he picked up on a noise coming from the sky. He frowned, turning on his side and trying to ignore whatever it was, but it only got louder. Opening his eyes, he finally noticed the smoking airplane flying overhead.

“What the hell?!” Sonic sat up straight as the plane spun, heading straight for a beach next to the hotel. It wasn’t until it was closer to the ground until he noticed- “Tails!!” Sonic yelled out as his best friend got closer to crashing. As he watched the plane go further, he saw several airbags popping up before it fell out of sight, hearing a soft crash shortly after. 

He sighed as his nerves calmed. “What am I gonna do with you bud…” as he headed toward the beach, he noticed a handful of pool visitors looking out, trying to see if the pilot was alright, but nobody actually going off to help. Sonic rolled his eyes. Humans were amazing architects, but from what he observed, animals still had a point up in the compassion department. 

Not wasting another moment, he ran off past the people and onto the beach, making sure to keep as far inland as he could to avoid the water. Disgusting stuff. Couldn’t Tails have picked a more dry place to crash?

It didn’t take very long for Sonic to come to a dead stop. He was only partway across the beach, not even past where the hotel ended, but he couldn’t help stop short when he noticed a mechanical creature driving along the sand.

“Freaking- WHAT.” He growled. The thing looked like a very small tank with a rhino head. The design wasn’t what set the hedgehog off, though that certainly didn’t help. “Robodork is here? And his creative design is worse than ever!” Groaning, he walked toward the thing, preparing to do what he’d done countless times before. 

As he approached, the Rhinotank pathetically wheeled toward Sonic, attempting to stab him. Effortlessly, the hedgehog jumped, curled, and launched at the robot, instantly destroying it. In the remnants, a small rabbit stood, trying to gain its bearings. Sonic looked up at the sky and sighed loudly. “Ughhhhhh. Yup, animals mean the Egg is up to junk. Can’t I go more than a couple freaking months without having to kick his ass all over again?”

Sonic took a deep breath before kneeling down, gently petting the animal. “Hey there little thing. You’re safe now. I’m gonna punch that mean doctor in his gross face, okay?” The rabbit didn’t reply, but it seemed to understand Sonic’s words, nodding happily before hopping off.

With that out of the way, he stood back off, looking out toward his destination, seeing several more robots out along the way. “Welp. At the very least, I won’t get bored on my way to find Tails.” As he ran along, Sonic made short work of a handful of other robots, but by the time he had gotten past the large hotel, he was just about out of sand.

At the end of the beach was a bridge extending into the water. Sonic had been all around this city, but had never gone near the beach due to his hydrophobia. If he had, he would have known ahead of time that Station Square’s beach was actually several small islands connected by a series of wooden bridges. He groaned loudly as he stepped onto the path, immediately growing anxious at the thought of standing right above the ocean. “Oh he owes me big time for making me come here.” He growled, running faster to spend as little time here as possible.

Once again though, he shortly came to another obstacle. A chunk of the bridge was missing, only leaving several metal poles and an “under construction” sign. “Oh come  _ ON. _ ” He was fed up already. Frustration briefly overcoming fear, he leapt from pole to pole, landing on the bridge at the other end ...only to run right into an elastic fence. Harmless to normal people, but deadly when factoring in super-powered momentum. Unable to slow himself, he stretched out the barrier before it bounced him back toward the incomplete area. Sonic managed to stop at the very edge of the pathway, holding himself stable until he was able to regain his footing. “If I make it out of here alive, I’m never coming to a beach again…”

Surprisingly, the rest of the bridge was safe, though the hedgehog slowed his pace just in case. Eventually he made it back to natural land, breathing a sigh of relief as he was able to comfortably run again. There was a long stretch of rock and sand, beautiful compared to what he just went through. There were a couple monkey robots here and there, but nothing that took more than a few seconds to get rid of. As Sonic approached the end of the stretch, he expected another bridge, however he was met with a completely uncovered area of ocean, the next land mass being far away. “Don’t know whether to be upset with the construction crew or Mother Nature, but  _ somebody  _ is gonna get a stern talking to when I get back.” Thankfully, the land ended with a bit of rock curving upward, almost like a ramp. He charged up a spindash, launching himself at mach speeds, soaring through the air and landing on the other island. “Been way too long since I've done that. Guess the beach has one or two highlights.”

Through some miracle, this island was little to write home about. A sturdy upward climb with only a few robots. Being the fool that he was, Sonic had completely let his guard down by the time he got to the end of the path. And as a plus, he was high enough now that he could get a good view of where Tails landed. Oh. Several more islands out. Sonic took a deep breath. “He’s really  _ really  _ lucky that I love him…”

Another wooden bridge. No worries, this would be easy by now. The bluenette took a single step and the entire bridge started to wobble. He was immediately hit with sea sickness. Running across it, the bridge shook violently up and down, allowing water to fill up the pathway, and subsequently Sonic’s shoes. Finally on the other side was a far more sturdy bridge. He took a few moments to regain his bearings, holding a railing for support.

As he was breathing, he looked to the sea beside him. Nearby, an orca was swimming, leaping out of the water periodically. “Heh… It’s hard to stay mad at the ocean when it has such beautiful life in it. Such peaceful… Is that thing getting closer?” Sonic didn’t have the time to let his stomach settle, he turned and bolted down the wooden path as the whale crashed into it, obliterating the spot that the hedgehog was just standing in. If it was a straight line, he’d be able to outrun the creature in no time. But of course, the designers needed to include as many twists and turns as possible. Sonic tried to run full speed, but constantly needing to slow and turn allowed the killer whale to catch up quickly. He gritted his teeth and ran as fast as he could, but somehow it was faster. Finally, he reached the end of the bridge all he had to do was run straight and- It was out. The bridge was missing a chunk, preventing him from reaching the shore. Life flashing, Sonic closed his eyes and jumped. He didn’t make it by a long shot. But fortunately, this orca wasn’t all that smart. It accidentally smacked against the rodent with its nose, launching him forward to the next island. “I-” He stopped, baffled by the events that had just transpired. Nearly every curse and insult that existed was close to passing his lips, but he managed to keep himself in check. “Okay… What if I just… Don’t make anymore snarky remarks?” He whispered, terrified for his life.

To his absolute delight, his tactic worked. It was smooth sailing from then on. A majority of the islands and pathways were completely natural and dry, and the ones that weren’t were short. The first half of the beach trip was a horrifying experience that he would never want to repeat. The second half though, despite being easy, was actually kind of fun. It was just like old times, weirdly formed natural structures, a few traps, and some easy robots. Sonic would never admit this to anyone, it would likely change some views on him, but he actually liked it when Robotnik attacked sometimes. He lived for the challenge, the thrill, the fight. Running was fun. Running in an obstacle course that was the city was ecstatic. But running through sprawling environments while dodging bullets, destroying robots, and narrowly avoiding death at every turn?  _ Euphoric.  _ But again, he didn’t like to admit that. And now was the time to save Tails.

Sonic found his best friend in the wreckage of the plane, lying unconscious in a pile of airbags. He was bruised and scraped up a bit, but he would be fine.

As the fox began to open his eyes, Sonic stood over him with a smirk and an extended hand. “You okay little buddy?” He asked calmly.

“Ngh… Uh… I think so… sore, but functioning.” Tails looked up at his savior with a glow of admiration. “Really glad I installed airbags… We should probably get back to the city before we get comfortable talking.” As he spoke, Sonic’s face went blank at the realization that they had to go back.

“Um. Yeah. Back… Say, how are your tails feeling?”

“Oh, uh, they’re fine I guess, but I think it would be safer if I didn’t fly for a while-”

Sonic placed a hand very gently onto Tails’ shoulder, face still blank. “Tails. I’m gonna put this lightly. We’re flying across this goddamn beach, or else we’re not going back at all, okay?”

The fox sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Honestly I’m surprised you even came to get me in this environment…”

The hedgehog smiled sweetly. “I love you enough to overcome water for you, but not enough to do it twice.”

Tails rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help return the smile. Sonic was difficult to work with sometimes, but nobody could resist that charm. He got himself up, went to grab something from the debris, then the two took off back to town.

\-- Station Square, after a slightly less brutal trip through the beach --

Sonic could be an ass sometimes, but he wasn’t without remorse. After having Tails fly him across the beach, he brought the kid back to the hotel poolside to relax and recover. The two sat with drinks as they conversed.

“Thanks again for the save Sonic. Even if I did most of the saving myself... “ Tails reminded, not planning on letting the teen forget. “Actually though, why are you even here? Weren’t you exploring the world?” That’s what Sonic told him at least. Made sense that the speedster would want to travel around his new environment, Tails didn’t expect to see his friend again for at least another few weeks.

Sonic shrugged, looking off into the distance with a slight smirk. “Eh, guess I just missed this you guys. I mean like I came back here a couple of times, mostly just to relax and piss off cops, but I guess I coulda paid you and Knux a visit. Just didn’t want you getting your hopes up having me around until I was back for good.” The logic here was flawed, but that was nothing new for Sonic. He wasn’t exactly the smartest animal around. “Anyway, tell me how exactly you crashed. You’re the best pilot I know (besides me), it’s not like you to land that poorly.”

Tails chose to ignore the first comment. There was so much wrong there and the fox didn’t want to even begin to unpack it. “The crash wasn’t my fault, don’t worry. The new plane I’m building is just a little buggy, I’m having a rough time ironing everything out.

“If the new one’s not workin’ why not just stick to using mine? You know I prefer running anyway, hell at this point you might as well just keep the Tornado.” Sonic loved his plane, but his friend got far more use out of it than he did.

Tails smiled but shook his head. “Thanks, but no. I appreciate the offer, but no offense, it’s gonna be way too slow compared to my new plane once it’s finished.” He said with a smug smile. He could see his friend begin to fidget already. The hedgehog hated when other things were faster than him, and by extension his vehicles. He let Sonic simmer for another moment before ending the teasing. “Okay, okay, it won’t be naturally faster. I’m cheating a bit.” He checked to make sure that nobody was looking at them before reaching and pulling out a purple chaos emerald. “It’s my new power supply. I pulled it from the rubble before we got back. Apparently they aren’t able to go to their own dimension from here. I found it during a flight one day, no special zone involved. I knew I had to use this to make something powerful! Unfortunately, this means bad people can easily get them too…”

Sonic’s annoyance turned to excitement when he saw the gemstone. “This is amazing!! Do you know how easily I’d be able to go super?!” The annoyance that was radiating from Tails was nearly tangible. “Fine, fine, fine, ‘use the emeralds responsibly’ or whatever, I get it… Anyway though, that plane idea sounds rad. Don’t suppose you have more planes we can try that thing out on?”

The fox shook his head. “Do you have any idea how many parts you need to build a plane? I’d need at least a week to get one built on my own!” He sighed. “But… If you can be patient, I can probably get a  _ temporary  _ chaos engine installed onto your Tornado. I’ve been making a few improvements to it anyway, this’ll be easy. Just let me finish my drink and-”

Sonic immediately gripped the other’s wrist. “Mystic Ruins, right?? Let’s take the train!” He ran with Tails in hand, the kid barely clutching the emerald, and headed straight to the train station. Of course, Sonic could run them to the ruins, but he didn’t want to end up tearing his friend’s arm off. Besides, who didn’t love train rides?

As the two animals got on the train though, they didn’t notice the much larger one getting off. “I hope Froggy is in the city…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter done! As always, leave a comment saying what you like and what you don't. I've been told by my wonderful proofreader that I did a very good job at capturing Sonic's personality, but that's up to the reader to determine for themself, let me know if you agree (or not, I like comments but no pressure on leaving one). Chapter 3 was already partway done when I posted 2, but 4 isn't started yet so it might take a little while to get done, I'll try not to make you wait too long though.


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